By Tanya Faulkner
A planning application that caused a stir amongst locals of the Hills has reached a decision by council.
Yarra Ranges Council (YRC) has officially declined an application which requested permission to develop a landfill on Lysterfield Road.
YRC Acting Director of Planning and Sustainable Futures Amanda Kern said since its advertisement through August, the council has received 52 submissions against the proposal.
“The application was also referred to a number of statutory referral authorities, such as CFA, Melbourne Water And Vic Roads, among others, for comment.
“We received an objection to the proposal from Melbourne Water, and the applicant was notified of the objections.
“In this case, as Melbourne Water is a determining referral authority who had objected, a planning permit cannot be issued.
“In addition, the Council also had significant concerns about the merits of the proposal,” she said.
Earlier this year, a planning application was submitted to the Yarra Ranges Council for 465 Lysterfield Road, Lysterfield, to use the land for fill disposal, alter access to the road, earthworks and vegetation removal.
Currently, the site is the location of Don Bosco retreat, owned by the applicant – the Salesian Society Inc.
Ms Kern said the application sought a permit to dispose of clean fill at the site, and the submission included supporting documentation to provide various environmental measures and traffic management associated with the proposal.
The project was proposed to have been carried over a period of three years, distributed across an area of approximately 15 hectares.
Amongst those concerned, Friends of the Glenfern Green Wedge president Jo Selleck told Star Mail in a previous interview that the proposal to dump 400,000 cubic metres of landfill from unknown sites across Melbourne into the Lysterfield Valley is contrary to the Green Wedge Zone (Schedule 6).
“It is contrary to the Significant Landscape Overlay and Heritage Overlay, and the site is registered by the National Trust as a Significant Landscape,” she said
Ms Selleck said the site was the subject of a VCAT case in 2018-2019, where VCAT decided against the developer and affirmed the landscape, biodiversity and agricultural values of the site.
Additionally, Knox Environmental Society president Richard Faragher said environmental impacts are often not known until it happens, until then we have to deal with the consequences.
Given these concerns from both the public and Melbourne Water, Council has issued a refusal of the application.
The applicant has 60 days from the issue date to lodge an appeal at VCAT against Council’s decision.
You can read the grounds of Council’s refusal on our ePlanning website: https://eplanning.yarraranges.vic.gov.au/Pages/XC.Track/SearchApplication.aspx?id=1382369
